Machine for making spikes.



1 .No. 659,0l7.

' 1 5 Patented oct. 2, |900. H. H. cummnas. MACHINE FOB MAKING S'PIKES.

- (Application med Jan. 19, 1899.) (No Model.) v

6 Sheets-Sheet 1 iglllllllllull! Nonms PEYERS on.. nom- Imo.. wAsmNc-Ton No. 659,0l7. Patented oet. 2, |900. H. H. cummmas.

vIWAGHINE FOR .MAKING SPIKES.

. (Application led Jan. 19, 1899.) (N0 Models sham-sheet 2.

"Patented ong-2, |900.v

No. 659,017. V

HQH. cummmas, MACHINE FOB MAKING SPIKES'.

6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(Ap'pliaton tiled. Jan. 19, 1899:) (No Model.)

co., vHoYoLrrno.. wAsumcfnn u c No. 659,0!7. Patented Oct. I2, |900. H. H. CUMMINGS.

MACHINE FOR MAKIING 'SPIKES.

(Appnxion med .rm 19, 1899.) (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sham 4.

No. 659,017. Patented Jum. 2, |900. H. H. cummluas.

MACHINE lFIJI? MAKING.. SPIKES.

No. 659,0l1.

. Patented Oct. 2, |900. H. H. CUMMINGS. MACHINE FDR AMAKING SPIKES.

(Application med Jan. 19, 1899.) (No Model.) 6 Sheets-fsheet 6.

jo Z D JL JL L7Li0 6 v mi: Nnms parte: co.. PHOTO-urna., msrlmm'on, o. a.

lilNijT-ao STATES ljA'TnNr @unica HENRY H. CUMMINGS, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO AMOS L.

PRESOOTT, OF PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY.

MACHflNE FOR MAKING SPIKES.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 659,01 7., dated October 2, 1900.

Application led January 19, 1899. 52119-1 Nthl 702,641. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: p

v Be it known that I, HENRYV H. CUMMINGS,

of Malden, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvementin' Machines for Making Spikes, of which the following description, in connection with the accom panying drawings, is a specification, likeg letters on the drawings representing vlike parts.

ro My inventionI is a machine for making spikes, particularly such as railroad-spikes. Spikes of this kind have heretofore usually been made by forging, this being an unsatisfactory method of manufacture,producing, asY

more fully in the course of the following description, and my invention will be more par-`r ticularly defined in the appended claims also forming a part of this specication.

preferred embodiment of my invention, Fign re l is a view thereof in side elevation looking toward the right when facing themachine. Fig. 2 is an opposite side elevation.

a top plan View thereof.

chine in frontelevation. Fig. 5 isa fragmentary View showing a detail of the feeding mechanism in elevation. Figs. 6 and 7 are transverse views of a safely device to be de- 4o scribed. Fig. Sl is a central longitudinal sectional view of the machine. Fig. 9 is a transverse section of the die-block, taken on the line H, Fig. o. Fig. lO is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section showing details ofthe i5 various dies.

tal section of the anvil or discharging mechanism and adjacent parts. Fig. 12 is a front elevation of the wiper, showing a portion of the anvil in perspective.

5o I have herein shown my machine as having In the drawings, in which I have shown a.

Fig. 3 isY Fig. 4 shows my ma-A Fig. 1l is an enlarged horizona heavybed A, supported at its opposite ends by one-piece legs or lpillars A A2.

Journaled at the rear of the machine is a fdriving-shaft a, to which power is communicated by any suitable means, as a belt-wheel a', and carrying a disk 0,2 and eccentlic L-a peripheral path-cam a4, and an eccentric a5 for severally7 operating the various mechan- 'isms of the machine.

Extending longitudinally and located me- 6o.

dially of the bed of the machine is a shaft b,

provided withextended journal-boxes b b2,

land on which is mounted a die-block b3.'

(Shown in sideelevation in Fig. 8 and in section in Fig. 9.) This die-block is herein shown 65 as carrying four dies b4, each having a dovetail shape in cross-section and retained firmly seated on the block by an overhanging iip b5 thereof at one side and by lips h6 and a clamp-y plate ?)7 at the other side,.there being two of 7o these plates held together by a tightening' bolt b2,as is clearly shown inv Fig. 9. Each die b4 has a recess b9, of sufficient width to receive readily @the spike-blanks s as they are fed thereto, a

`staek of said blanks being shown in Fig. l 75 retained by a hopper h h'. The shaft b projects at its forward end be- (See also Fig. 3.)

yond the bed of the machine, where it has `keyed to it a spur-disk b1, herein shown as providedwith four spurs bu, corresponding 8o to the four dies of the die-block, and loosely 'journaled onthe hub of said spur-disk is a sleeve 17.12, having an arm or crank b1?, operlated by an arm Z914, connected thereto by a jlink 1915 and ball-joints 516517, said arm Z914 bef jing part of a bell-crank lever pivoted at Z918 to the bed or a stationary part of the machine andconnected at its other arm 519 to a rod h2o, secured by a joint b21 to the face Z122,

of the cam a2 before mentioned. Said bell- 9o crank alsohasa third arm o23, provided with fingers 524, which serve topush the bottommost blank s of the stack of blanks into position in the adjacent die b4. The arm Z913 carries a dog Z225, which successively engages the spurs bu and rotates the shaft b a quarter-turn at every revolution of the drivingshaft.

Pivoted on the bed of the machine adjacent the disk blo is a stop b2, normally held forloo ward against said disk by a spring .5, (see Fig. 5,) this stop being held away from said disk by the engagement of a retractor Z927 with a pin Z923 on said stop, so that, as will be evident viewing Fig. 5, the pawl or stop Z926 is moved out of engagement With a spur Z911 each time just before the dog Z925 engages the next succeeding spur Z911 to rotate the disk and shaft, a spring-finger Z929 being provided to click behind each spur as it passes and prevent any backward movement of the shaft. As the die block rotates interinittingly it brings each spike-blank successively into the uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 8, ready to be formed by the cooperating dies above it and at its head, the die CZ having a block dx, against which the spike is driven by the end pressure of the die c, thereby having its point deflected or centered and shaped, asindicated in Fig. l0. These dies are shown in enlarged detail in Fig. 10. The die c is bifurcated at its rear side and secured by a pin c to a carrier c2, reciprocated in ways c3 c1 by the cam a3, to which it is secured by means of a bolt c5, journaled at its ends in the bifurcated ends e0 c7 of the eccentric-strap c3, which embraces the eccentric a3. The intermediate portion of the bolt c5 is embraced by their upperends,the machine having an overhanging yoke or hanger A3 recessed on its underside at d0 to receive these moving parts. The die (Z is operated by a shaft d7, whose crank d3 is connected by links d0 to the dieblock, and said shaft is slightly rocked by means of a connected rod d10, Figs. l and 3, journaled to a crank d11 of said shaft at one end and pivoted at its other end at d12 to an arm d13, pivotally mounted at d on the bed of the machine, and provided at its free end with a roll (115, traveling in a path-cam a7 on the inner face of the disk d2.

In case any accident should occur to prevent proper action of the various parts of the machine it is obvious that in a machine of this character the result would be disastrous, and accordingly I have made'provision to permit the driving parts to yield, said provision in connection with the die d heilig herein shown as preferably located at the journal-bearing of the arm du. (See Figs. l, 3, and 4.) The wrist-pin d10 of the crank du rests against the fixed journal-block CZ17 on one side and a movable block Z13 on the opposite side capable of sliding on ways (113, normally held in proper bearing position by a heavy spring d20, held on a seat d21 at the outer end of the connecting-rod d10. It will be seen that the driving-shaft a could continue to rotate -without compelling the die d to injure parts adjacent thereto which side of said path-cam orslot f10.

might be for the moment incapable of proper movement. Further provision is made in connection with the rod Z920, whereby the parts operated therefrom may yield when necessary, said provision being shown in Figs. l, 3, 4, c', and 7. The rod Z920 is provided with a longitudinal groove Z930 in one side, recessed at Z931 to receive a small ball Z932, held therein by a spring Z933, whose tension is adjusted by a screw Z934, working in the threaded stem Z935 of a ball-joint Z930, seated in the socket Z937, provided at the free end of lever Z910, so that when an undue resistance is offered the ball Z982 yields and permits the rod Z920 to slide relatively to the balland-socket joint Z930 Z937, as will be evident upon studying the figures. The spike-blank having been formed between the dies c d is carried over from the position shown in Fig. 10 to that shown in Fig. l1 and indicated by dotted lines. in Fig. 3, where it is held by an anvil or discharger e, herein shown as bolted to the free end of a lever c', intermediately pivoted at c2 to the bed of the machine and having its rear free end provided with a roll e3. traveling in the peripheral path-cam a5. (See Figs. 3 and 8.)

Adjacent the anvil e is a spur-forming mechanism or wiperf, herein shown as provided with a forward wiping projection f2 for properly shaping the spur end of the spike to the shape clearly shown in Fig. 11. This wiperf is pivoted at its forward end f3 to a throw-arm f1 of a sleeve f5, mounted for convenience loosely on the shaft (Z7. The conlOO nection between the throw-arm f4 and the by a crankf7 at its outer end, connected by a linkf3 to an eccentric strap or box f0, surrounding the eccentric d3. At its rear or free end the wiper has adiagonally-arranged slot or path f10, which rides over a stud or friction-roll f12, a wear-plate or bearing-flange f13 being preferably provided on the inner 'lhe result is that when the crank f7 is rocked forward by the cam a5 the wiper by its arm f1 and its wiping finger or projection f2 is moved obliquely to the spike by reason of the stud f12 and cam-path f10, whereby the spur is wiped down into shape by the projection f2. The Wiper f2 is shown as provided with forming-wingsf10 at its end, (see Figs. l1 and 12,) which coperate with grooves in the anvil e, these wings serving to prevent any lin of `metal extending over at the edge of the spur as the metal thereof is crowded and wiped down in the process of forming over the anvil. 'lhe cam a1 is so timed relatively to the other mechanism that it will move the anvil e outwardly or to the right, Fig. 4, just after the wiper has performed its oliice, said outward movement of the anvil serving to discharge the spike and to permit it to drop by gravity into a suitable conveyer or receptacle therefor at the base of the machine. The

IIO

eccentrics d5 da are provided for the purpose of permitting the most accurate and delicate adjustment of the die d in a manner similar to that already described in connection with the die c, these two eccentrics d5 d6 being locked in the required adjustment by means of overlapping links C122 d, bolted together and clamped to the projecting ends of the eccentrics by set-screws d, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The shape of the dies will be clearly understood, viewing Figs. 8 and l0, where it will be seen that the die c has a cavity C10, correspending in form to the desired shape of the head of the spike, and the die vd hasin its adjacent end or face a vertical channel or slot (125, which serves to lift up and turn outwardly the portion of the head which is to form the spur portion of the spike, while t-he die d4 conforms to the shape required of the body of the spike.

From the above description the operation of the machine will be readily understood.

The heated spike-blanks are fed or delivered to the hopper h h, of any suitable shape and size, and are thence pushed one by one by the feeding mechanism Z923 N4 into place in the grooves b9 of the successive dies b4 as.

they are brought oneafter` the other into blank of the stack of spike-blanks.. The

same movement which swings the fingers 524. of the feeding mechanism into pushing engagement with 'the blanks also retracts the arm Z914 of the bell-crank b1" and brings the dog.

Z225 into`the position shown in Fig. 5', so that the further rotation ofthe driving-shaft causes said dog to move forward to the right, Figs. 4 and 5, and rotate the die-block b3 one step to the right, there by bringing the blank into position between the dies c and d. Thereupon the face-cam a7 and the eccentrica3 through their connections cause the die d to move down rearward and the die c to move forward, the result being that the head of the spike is offset from the form substantially as shown in Fig. 8 to the form shown in Fig. l0, thereby not only compressing the metal of theY entire spike, but tending to maintain thegrain of the .projecting portions of the head of the spike longitudinal of said portions or transversely to the body of the spike, theobject of this fea,- ture of my invention being to make the head of the spike as strong and tough as possible.

TheY spike having position next to the anvil e, whichat the required moment engages the back of the spike in the position shown in Fig. 11, and thereupon the wiper is operated by the eccentric` 'that very many changes and modifications4 may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and by the term ,spike I mean to include all like analogous articles.

My invention enables me to produce spikes with much more uniformity of lproduct and smoothness and elegance of finish than heretofore, `while at the saine time they may be produced much more rapidly and at -a considerably less cost.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a machine for making spikes, the com; bination with feeding mechanism, of means to shape the body of the spike, lmeans to move a portion of the metal at the head bodily away and turn it ont substantially perpendicular to the spike to form a portion of the head thereof, means to compress the metal at the head, and means to offset the head in a direction opposite said turned-out portion just prior to said compression, substantially as described. v I

2. In a machine for making spikes, the combination with feeding mechanism, of means to shape the body of the spike, means to move a portion of the metal at the head bodily away and turn it ont substantially perpendicular tothe spike means to compressthe head and said bent-ont portion thereof, and a wiper to `delict-t the extremity of said turned-ont porshape the bodyol' the spike, means to move a portion ofthe metal at the head bodily away an d turnvit out substantially perpendicular to the spike, means to compress the head and said bent-out portion thereof, and a wiper to deliect the extremity of said turned-out portion inthe direction of the length of the spike, and to form the point of the spike, substantially as described. Y

4. In a machine for making spikes, means for supplying individual blanks, carrying means to carry the said individual blanks into position, two dies movable simultaneously toward eachother for forming respectively the ICO IlO

body and the head of the blank, mechanism to move the head-forming die straight ahead in the direction of the lengt-h of the blank, and mechanism for moving the body-forming die obliquely toward the blank and toward said other die, said two dies coperating in swaging between them certain portions of the metal of the blanks, substantially as described.

5. In a machine for making spikes, means to carry the blanks into position, two dies movable toward each other, mechanism to move one of said dies in the direction of the length of the blank, mechanism for moving the other of said dies obliqu'ely toward the blank and said other die, said first-mentioned die having a cavity to form the head of the spike, and said obliquely-moving die having a channel or slot substantially perpendicular to and extending from the blank, substantially as described.

6. In a machine for making spikes, means to carry the blanks into position, two dies movable toward each other, mechanism to move one of said dies in the direction of the length of the blank, mechanism for moving the other of said dies obliquely toward the blank and said other die, said firstmentioned die having a cavity to form the head of the spike, andsaid obliquely-moving die having a channel or slot substantially perpendicular to and extending from the blank, and means for adjusting the angular position of said lastmentioned die relatively to said other die, substantially as described.

7. In a machine for making spikes, means to support the blanks in position to be formed, a die for forming the head thereof, a second die adjacent thereto, said second die being oblong and supported adjacent its opposite ends by pivoted links, and means to swing said die on said links toward and from said other die, in substantial parallelism to the blank to be formed,substantially as described.

8. In a machine for making spikes, means to support the blanks in position to be formed, a die for forming the head thereof, a second die adjacent thereto, said second die being oblong and supported adjacent its ends by pivoted links, means to swing said die on said links toward and from said other die, and means for adjusting one of the ends of said link-supported die relatively to said pivots, substantially as described.

9. In a machine for making spikes, a substantially-cylindrical die-block containing, a plurality of dies or recesses to receive dieblanks extending longitudinally thereof, mechanism at one side for feeding blanks to said recesses, mechanism at the opposite side for discharging the spikes from said die-block, means intermediate said two sides coperating with the dies of said die-block for forming the heads of said spikes, and means to rotate said die-block step by step, substantially as described.

10. In a machine for making spikes, a substantially-cylindrical die-block containing a plurality of dies or recesses to receive dieblanks extending longitudinally thereof, mechanism at one side for feeding blanks to said recesses, mechanism at the opposite side for discharging the spikes from said die-block, means intermediate said two sides coperat ing with the dies of said die-block for forming the heads of said spikes, means to rotate said die-block step by step, and a wiper for finishing the spike,substantiallyas described.

ll. In a machine for making spikes, the combination with means to carry blanks and dies for shaping the spikes, of an anvil, means to move said anvil against the partly-formed spike, a Wiper for bending a portion of the spike over said anvil, and means thereafter to move said anvil away from the carrier and thereby discharge the spike therefrom, substantially as described.

l2. In a machine for making spikes, a die for shaping the blank, coperating movable parts adjacent thereto, and mechanism for operating said die, said mechanism including driving means, a pivotal connection between the same and said die, a journal-bearing for said connection, and means permitting said bearing to yield under a predetermined pressure, substantially as described.

13. In a machine for making spikes, a die for shaping the blank, cooperating movable/ parts adjacent thereto, and mechanism for operating said die, said mechanism including driving means, a pivotal connection between the same and said die, a journalbearing for said connection comprising a fixed journalbox, and a movable journal-box, aspring normally holding said movable box against said fixed box and permitting it to yield when necessary, substantially as described.

14. In a machine for making spikes, a die for shaping the blank, coperating movable parts adjacent thereto, and mechanism for operating said die, said mechanism including driving means, a rod extending therefrom, a recess being formed in one side of said rod, a ball in said recess, connecting means between said rod and said die, said means adjacent said rod inclosing said ball and containinga spring maintaining said ball under pressure normally in said recess locking together said rod and the adjacent portion of the connecting means as and for the purpose set forth.

l5. In a machine for making spikes, a carrier for carrying the blanks to be formed, means to move said carrier intermittingly, said means including a reciprocating rod and a bell-crank, and a yielding connection between said rod and bell-crank normally maintaining them rigidly locked together but permitting the rod to slide relatively to the bellcrank when extreme resistance is oered, sub stantially as described.

16. In a machine for forming spikes, a carrier for the blanks, forming'devices coperating therewith, mechanism for moving said carrier, and mechanism for operating said forming devices, a driving-shaft for said machine, and means between said shaft and said mechanismsfor automaticallypermitting the latter to becomeinoperative when required, substantially Vas described.

17. In a machine for making spikes, a cylindrical die-block having dieing-surfaces on its periphery, said die-block. having dovetail recesses lon gi tudi nal thereofin opposite pairs, dies for said recesses, a bolt between said pairs and extending through said die-block, and clamping-plates at the ends of said bolt,

said plates respectively engaging the adja! with Vsaid die-block and said heading-block, substantially as described.

19. In a machine for making spikes, adriving-shat't, dies for forming the spikes, operating connections between said shaft and said dies, and mechanism for delivering the blanks to said dies, said mechanism includinga reciprocating rod driven by said shaft, a bellcrank lever pivot-ed to the frame of the machine and to said rod, and an arm extending from said lever and having fingers for engaging and feeding the blanks, said bell-crank being connected to operate mechanism for carrying the blanks, substantially as described.

20. In a machine for making spikes, a support for holding a partially-formed spike, a

reciprocating wiper,a gnideway for said Wiper, said gnideway being arranged obliqnely to the spike held in said support, and means for reciprocating said Wiper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HENRY H. CUMMINGS.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL, GEo. W. GREGORY. 

